Controversy
by CreationsGoneAwry
Summary: Frey and Doug are going to hold their wedding in just a little over a month, and the two can't be any happier. However, it turns out both have secrets from the past they've been hiding from each other, and when a tragedy strikes, they're unsure of what to do. T for content and language. Multiple pairings. (ABANDONED)
1. Impending Wedding

**A/N: **Hello, and welcome to one of my newer stories, Controversy! It stars just about every character from RF4 (excluding Venti and Ethelberd) and a whooole lot of pairings along the way.

There's gonna be some tug-of-war going on with Frey, Doug, and Leon, but other than that the pairings are pretty much fair game... I mean I know which ships I like but they might change, depending on if I play the game more or not :P I'd spoil which ones I plan to include but that wouldn't be very cool (especially if I ended up changing them), so you all have to remain in the dark...! Muahaha!

Um, anyway, as with all of my older stories, my writing style is a little bit outdated already so I'm going to try and keep this edited and up to date with my current style. Of course the first 5 chapters - what I have posted as of right now - will be overall the same level of quality just because of how long it's been since I've updated but even _I _don't think they're really bad... and I'm my own worst critic. For any past readers (if you actually came back to reread the first chapter... I dunno _why _but whatever lol), I'll point out any major differences, but for the most part I don't think I'll do anything other than fix some awkward phrasing and all that good stuff.

So... last note, this story is only supposed to be an angsty/drama/romance with some badly attempted humor on the side, but as I focus on so many characters at once, like in the first few chapters here, it might be really really choppy. Just stick with me though and I promise it'll get better! Stories always get better once you get to the actual plot =.=

Last note for real, thank you to all my readers! Whether you actually review or just follow and favorite, I don't mind! It all makes me happy :) I love getting emails telling me someone's noticed my story again, so keep them coming!

* * *

**Controversy**

Everybody in town saw the proposal, how happy the two in love seemed to be, how excited old Blossom was to send off her practical son.

Doug shouted it down from the rooftop, and Frey shouted back up from the ground, giving him the answer he undeniably wanted to hear the most.

The wedding was to take place in just over a month, giving them enough time to plan out everything accordingly, including getting the tailor to properly design and fit the clothes and the marriage license from the capital allowing them to hold it.

However, the time limit for Doug to join her in her castle room was very short, being only a few days. And Frey couldn't wait.

…

"I've told you this before, but now I'm really serious, as serious as I've ever been in my whole life, okay?"

Frey stood with Leon at the side of the lake, watching the man with pursed lips after she'd finalized what she had to say. She'd already tried to do this before, knowing that her relationship with Doug was obviously more serious than her playtime with the jackal, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to really break it off until now.

Everything was said and done, the wedding date would quickly arrive – she knew that for sure – and her fiancé was moving in in just a matter of days. There was no way she could hide Leon in her room at night with Doug there.

Not that she wanted to, anyway. She hadn't _been _with Doug yet, nor had she with Leon, per se, but that was part of the fun and excitement of marrying him. It would be like a whole new adventure exploring different things with him, seeing where the wind took them. She honestly couldn't wait one bit, so something like this had to be stopped as soon as possible.

"You have nothing to fear, Love," Leon replied, to which Frey grimaced quickly. "I am a man of my word. I'll back off and let Doug have the spotlight for now."

She sighed. "You have to stop calling me Love. Otherwise people will get the wrong idea. It's bad enough you've let it slip a couple times at the restaurant… We're just lucky that the people of Selphia are really dense."

Leon chuckled, sending some chills down her spine and butterflies to her stomach. "Okay, okay." He cleared his throat, almost as if he was nervous to keep talking. "So, ah, what should I call you instead?"

"Just that."

"Hm?"

"You."

Frey dug the point of her shoe into the ground, creating a hole in the earth where the green grass used to be. "You don't ever call me by name – even now you don't. You call me either 'Love' or 'You'."

He seemed unperturbed.

"Just call me whatever you used to call me before this all started, all right? It'll be like nothing ever happened," she finished, staring out at the water, the small waves of the lake rippling, the afternoon sun's rays reflecting on the blue surface.

Her words were harsh, but Leon nodded slowly. "I'll do my best. For what it's worth, though," he started, closing the space between them as he walked towards her, "I rather enjoyed our time together, despite how short-lived it was."

He put his hand on her cheek, sliding it around and caressing it, watching her face as her eyes closed. It seemed to switch between confused and content, but he didn't really mind, smiling a little. Just seeing her cute expressions was enough.

Frey was expecting a last goodbye kiss despite having the same thing just a few nights ago, thinking she would be able to cut him loose that time. He met her expectation, but not quite in the way she thought he would.

He moved his hand up to her forehead, brushing her bangs up out of the way, and pressed his lips to it, kissing her softly. It lasted no more than a second but it felt like a lifetime to Frey. She whimpered slightly under his touch and he let out a throaty chuckle, sending shivers to her spine again. She really hoped those would go away with time. This was just playtime, Leon was just a plaything, and her true feelings lay with Doug, the man she was about to marry. It was silly that this had even started - so silly that she couldn't even remember how it did. She just wished it wasn't so hard to end it.

But Leon got cocky after hearing her noises and lowered his face to hers, meeting her on eye level. He stared into her green orbs and contemplated teasing her just one last time.

Why not? It was the last time, so he'd have to make it extremely entertaining.

He placed a hand on each side of her face and inched closer to her mouth with his, feeling her hot breath escape from hers and threaten to enter his. It was really very enticing, and it took an inane amount of his self-control to not actually do what he wanted to do right then and there - kiss her.

Frey's eyes closed as she anticipated the real thing, but after several seconds passed and all she could feel was the air coming out of his mouth she opened them back up, staring at the now smirking jackal man.

"Leon!"

He laughed heartily, instantly backing away. "You know, that was quite the adorable waiting face you had there."

Her cheeks flushed. "Jeez!"

Leon took her into his arms then, squeezing her tightly. "I'll miss teasing you like that."

Though he was holding her just a bit too tightly, she didn't mind, instead returning his embrace, taking in what she knew would very likely be the last inhales of his earthy scent before they parted ways. She enjoyed the time for what it was: a parting, a farewell, a rite of passage to their separate lives. Although she was sad she was closing a door, there was an open window just waiting for her out there with Doug.

"Thank you for being with me," he whispered, and for a second Frey wasn't sure if she'd heard him right. A tear left her eye and she squeezed both shut again, hoping they wouldn't come out and stain his vest. After a few more moments he finally pulled away.

If he saw Frey's semi-puffy eyes he didn't make any mention of it, which the girl was very thankful for. Knowing that this was going to be the absolute last time anything between the two here would happen, she felt she had to do something to make sure it ended on a good note.

She crooked her head up to allow her lips to meet his for a quick peck, which was over before anything could start.

"Goodbye, Leon. Thanks for everything you've done for me... but that's the last time."

"I know, I know, already," he said, sighing, mainly to give him time to recover from the short kiss. He gave her his signature cocky smirk. "I'll see you around and don't worry, I won't do anything funny anymore. I truly wish for you and Doug to live a happy life together."

She smiled. "Thank you."

Before she could let anything convince herself to stay just a bit longer, she made her feet move, carrying her away from her second choice and lover.

As he watched her leave, Leon picked at the spot on his vest where she left a tiny tear stain. "Honestly…" he trailed sadly, "you deserve someone much better than me."

…

*GLOMP*

"Whoa!" Frey exclaimed, unsure of what to do. "W-who is this? Amber?"

"Try again," the voice behind her whispered into her ear.

A small shiver ran down her spine, instantly brightening her mood tenfold. "D-Doug?"

The dwarf laughed and kissed her cheek, surprising her even more. "You sure do stutter a lot, y'know that?"

She flushed a dark shade of red, not used to this sort of affection, especially in the middle of the town square where anybody could see them. She smiled sheepishly as she remembered Blossom chiding them for being so open one day. Hadn't Doug learned from that?

"You're so unfair," she whimpered, referring to his tactics to get her attention. Though, if they were just talking about fairness, she was definitely more unfair than he was…

He stepped away and instead grabbed her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

She huffed, pretending to be bothered. "Never mind. But you do know there's all sorts of people around right now, right? They're all going to start staring at us…"

Doug just squeezed her hand tighter and grinned. "Why should we care? We're going to be married soon…" he trailed with a cough to the side, hiding his blush. "Anyway, just because we're going to be the second married couple in town doesn't mean we have to be in second place. We gotta show everyone we can be a better couple than Nancy and Jones!"

"So all you care about is the popularity of our love?"

"Ahaha, no, not at all," he said, reassuring her. "I just like the thought of being able to kiss you wherever and whenev – I mean, I want to show everyone that you're mine and can't be taken away from me."

"The first answer sounded better," Frey said with her half laugh. "The second just makes it sound like I'm your possession."

"I didn't mean it like that! I swear!"

Frey giggled. "I know." She turned her body towards him and planted a kiss on his cheek as well, laughing when a red hue showed up on his face. "It's only fair, since you did it to me!"

"All right, all right," he agreed reluctantly, cheeks still visibly flushed.

She resumed walking by his side for a few moments but then something occurred to her. "Where are we going, anyway?"

Doug didn't respond right away, pursing his lips. The two were walking in the direction of the general store, but Frey still didn't quite understand what was happening.

"I want you to help me start packing up," he explained softly. His grip on her hand loosened a little bit, as if he was losing his strength from being embarrassed.

Frey smiled. "I'd be glad to help."

"Awesome! Come on then!"

He let go of her hand and started sprinting towards the store and his house now, leaving her in the dust out of excitement.

"Haha… Honestly, Doug, sometimes you act just like a little kid," she said a little more loudly than just to herself. She followed him through the door nonetheless and was greeted by a chipper Blossom behind the counter.

"Welcome, Frey! You just missed Doug." She laughed. "That boy gets excited over the simplest things, I swear. I hope you can fix him up good when he's there with you."

A drop of sweat dripped down Frey's forehead and she laughed a little, unsure of what to say. "Yeah, he's… definitely a keeper! Aha."

"Oh, come now," Blossom said, "say it like you mean it! Otherwise I won't let you take him away from me."

The Earthmate blushed. "Y-you saw how his proposal went… Of course I mean it!"

"Hmm?"

The half-smile stayed on her face. Since Frey and Doug had been getting closer, Blossom had become more and more like an overprotective parent, like a father taking care of his daughter before marriage. And Doug was definitely a mama's boy - or in their special case, a father's boy. Though she didn't particularly mind, it did get on Frey's nerves sometimes.

It was best to just come right out with it, though, so she could escape the situation as soon as possible. "I really love Doug, Blossom. I won't do anything that will make you regret giving him to me." She scratched the back of her neck. "I know he'll make me happy, and I'm pretty sure I'll make him happy, so you don't have anything to worry about. We'll be the best couple in town!"

She watched the old woman carefully, just to make sure she didn't doubt her any more. It was frustrating, not to mention embarrassing, when she had to keep repeating herself to get her point across. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she saw a head of red hair and instantly all the blood rushed to her face.

"Ah! No, I – I didn't mean to eavesdrop! I was just wondering if you were still here and when you were coming up if you still were and… just come up here with me, Frey!"

Doug talked so quickly she wasn't sure if she heard him right, but she quietly excused herself from Blossom's presence and followed Doug up the staircase, her heart pounding out of her chest.

"Haha… sorry about that," she said, embarrassed. Before she could explain herself further, though, she felt weight on her body and found herself pushed up against the wall.

Doug's lips had easily found hers and didn't seem to want to leave their spot any time soon. Frey was shocked, to say the very least, but she melted into it, closing her eyes as she allowed herself to enjoy the moment. Even though Blossom was in the same house, she was downstairs and was a little hard of hearing, anyway, so if anything were to happen, she probably wouldn't hear it.

_Wait, what? _

She wanted to push him away, fearful of where it might lead, but he beat her to it, turning around and away from her as soon as their mouths separated. She touched her lips disbelievingly, forgetting just when the last time something like that had happened. He wasn't that type of guy; even earlier today in the town square was a very rare occurrence.

"Sorry." Doug coughed. "Sometimes I just forget how much I love you."

Her heart threatened to melt into a puddle of itself on the floor in front of her and the happiest smile crept onto her face. "Thank you." She giggled.

A few moments passed and Doug cleared his throat awkwardly. "A-anyway, uh… You wanna help me get started here?"

Frey nodded, still smiling, and quickly knelt down, glancing over to Doug when she felt his presence beside her. She returned her attention to the box in front of her, though, wondering if he was planning on using it to carry things.

"Oh, what's – "

"Ah, don't touch that!"

Frey recognized the thing as the notebook Doug kept for whatever reasons. She used to think it was like a diary of sorts, but he wouldn't ever let her see what was written in it. Why was he so secretive, though?

"If we're getting married, shouldn't we get rid of all the secrets between us?" she asked hesitantly.

That might not have been the best course of action, though. Doug knew she was at least spending time with Leon while she was dating the dwarf as well, but he wasn't aware of their continuing relationship even after Doug proposed. As far as he knew, their relationship had ceased when Doug confessed his love for her to the entire town.

Telling him about the secret relationship might have hurt him.

"Eeeeh… let's just wait a little while, all right?" he suggested, an odd grin on his face. "There's some things I'm not ready for you to know about me just yet."

Frey smiled sadly. "Okay."

She decided she could live with that for now. If he had his secrets, she could have her own, right? Down the road it wouldn't be such a big deal what she had to tell him, anyway. She was probably just worrying over nothing, and only worrying so much because it had just happened – or, rather, _ended _– just earlier that day.

She sighed in relief and leaned her head on Doug's shoulder. The man's cheeks heated up and he was about to ask what was wrong but Frey beat him to words.

"You should hurry and finish packing already."

* * *

_~CGA_


	2. Start of it All

**A/N: **Hmm... not much to really say here, other than the edits are coming along pretty nicely! I hope to get rid of some of the angst in this chapter because it is way too early for that... (but at least it isn't as bad as the Dolce story I had here earlier hahaha. That was a piece of crap.)

_Hi ho, hi ho, to the edits I go~_

* * *

"Doug, it's morning," Frey whispered to her fiancé, shaking him gently. It was half past seven but she had already done all her morning chores and tended to the animals, so she was surprised that with all the noise she made he didn't wake up. Though, she supposed, she hadn't fixed breakfast yet…

She giggled as Doug crinkled his nose, indicating he hadn't quite woken up just yet but was on the verge. Frey still didn't really understand what still took him so long to wake up; some mornings she would find him awake and getting the shop ready for the day at quarter to seven, bright and early.

"Mmn… five more minutes…"

Another giggle escaped from her mouth. "Don't tell me this is what it's gonna be like everyday?"

"Hmm? What?" Doug jolted awake suddenly, the sound of Frey's normal voice creeping into his mind. "What's going on?"

"It's time to wake up, Douggie."

"Don't… call me that." He sighed, rolling over onto his stomach. Frey rubbed his back lovingly, but after about a minute she thought he fell back asleep so she quickened the pace and pressure, hearing him groan.

She spun the emerald ring around her finger a few times, glancing around the room while biting the inside of her cheek. "Is that any way to talk to me on our wedding day?"

"W-what?!"

"Hahaha, just kidding," she teased.

He heaved a sigh in relief. "Jeez, you scared me. I thought for a second we'd have to get away from each other for a little bit."

Her soft laughing ceased and a shocked but amused look stayed on her face. "You don't really believe in that superstition, do you?"

"It brings bad luck, though," Doug said with that blank face of his. "I mean, it brings bad luck if you and your… well, fiancée, stay in the same room or general area the night before and the day of the wedding."

"What's so bad about it?"

"Erm… Well…" His face turned a light shade of pink. "I dunno, okay, but it's bad luck! So next month, the night before the wedding, we can't see each other. I don't wanna be cursed or anything!"

"All right, all right," Frey said, giving in, not expecting it to go on as long as it had. "Whatever you say."

She glanced over to her tiny kitchen area and then back to Doug, who was quickly falling back asleep. "Anyway, how do you like your eggs?"

He grumbled, "You should know."

She bit the inside of her cheek. "Not really, no. All this time I've been switching between your tempura and fried rice."

"Rice? You're making rice for breakfast?"

Frey sighed but smiled nonetheless. "You only hear what you want to hear, don't you?" She crouched down near his head and began ruffling his hair. "Come on, get up! I swear, it's like you don't know how to wake up anymore after sleeping with me for a few nights." She caught herself blushing a bit but ignored it; it had already been several days, so why was she still embarrassed about it? They were getting married in just a matter of weeks…

He grunted in annoyance, not liking when anybody messed with his hair. "…mbled."

"Hmm?" Frey tilted her head in confusion.

"Scrambled."

…

"Jeez, I can't believe it takes Doug that long to wake up in the mornings!" Margaret said, being one of the earliest risers in the whole town, next to Frey and Volkanon.

Frey laughed sheepishly, wondering if Margaret was going to nag him later about that. "A-anyway, how have things been?" she asked to her group of female friends. She really hadn't gotten many chances to talk to them lately; she had mainly been staying inside with Doug all the time to plan the wedding and everything. Since Ventuswill wasn't around at the moment, they had to relay all the plans to Volkanon, who was a little less than ideal to play the role of the priest due to his…interesting moments of emotional bursts. But everything would work out in the end, she was sure of it.

If nothing else, it gave her and Venti something else to talk about once she returned, right?

"Ellie and I found a new kind of flower!" Amber said cheerfully, outstretching her arms and grinning. "After we plant it and collect its seeds we're gonna start selling it in the shop!"

The Earthmate smiled at her friend's innocence and listened as the next person, Clorica, began relaying her own last week.

"I got to catch up on some of my sleep, so I'm feeling rather chip…per…zzz." As soon as she started she stopped talking, sure enough snoozing right in the open, standing up. Frey stared at her and laughed half-heartedly, wondering if she would ever change.

"I also had the chance to catch up on sleep! It seems I received more, yes?"

The girls' eyes turned towards Xiao Pai, the girl with her hands upon her head as if she was confused.

"Mama made some really delicious stew a few nights ago, and it seems it was very pleasing for my stomach. I slept like a bump on a log!"

"That's not really how that term is used, but oh well…" Margaret trailed, giggling at the foreign girl. "Anyway, I came up with a new song, so I'm pretty proud of myself!"

"What kind of song is it?" Frey asked.

"It's just another ballad… y'know, slow and steady…" the elf girl trailed, embarrassed now, wondering why she brought it up in the first place.

All the girls exclaimed how much they wanted to hear it, much to Margaret's dismay. It wasn't that she disliked playing for people, it was just…

"Meg, why do you keep mentioning your songs if you're not going to play them?" Forte asked quixotically.

"Isn't it obvious? She just likes the attention," Dolce said flatly.

"Er, I – I didn't really think of it in that way," Forte tried to assure Meg.

Margaret just smiled nonchalantly. "It's all right. Truthfully, I don't know why I keep talking about how proud I am of my songs and then refuse to play them. I'm just weird, I guess. Hahaha."

"Dolce, that was a little bit uncalled for, though," Clorica spoke up, seemingly awake now. She was biting the inside of her cheek, but not in the comical way she usually did.

Dolce turned her head to the side. "I'm… I'm sorry. I'm just a little out of it right now," she admitted.

"Is something wrong?" Amber asked, and at the same time, Xiao Pai joined in with, "If you're feeling troubled, you should tell us, yes?"

"It's just stuff at home. Don't be so worried."

Margaret waved her finger and stood in her motherly pose. "Now, you can't just act up like that and expect us to not be worried about you. Either you tell us what's wrong or we'll find out on our own."

To continue off of Meg's rant, Clorica added, "And believe me, we _will _find out – you can just ask Frey here. Remember what we did to scare Doug when he didn't propose to you right away?"

Frey grimaced and shuddered, but nodded to Dolce, who was also in on the action so of course she remembered as well. "Anyway, if something's bothering you, don't be afraid to tell us," she said. A lingering thought wondered what could possibly be wrong with Nancy and Jones, though.

"We're all here for you. Don't forget that," Forte chimed in with her signature knightly smile.

Dolce blushed and turned her head away again, unused to all the attention she was getting. "I-it's okay, really. I'll be just fine." She glanced back at all the girls though and smiled. "But thanks for worrying and concerning yourselves with me."

"Group hug!" Amber shouted, her butterfly wings protruding forth to show she was happy.

"Eh? Please, no – "

Before anyone could heed her pleads and "warnings", though, Dolce was surrounded by the girls and their arms. The color returned to her face but she couldn't say she disliked the warm feeling, both inside and out.

"This is so cheesy…" she muttered to herself.

"What do we have here?"

The girls pulled away at once after hearing the male voice from behind them.

"Who's the – oh, it's just Leon," Forte said after turning around and examining the source of the voice. She at once returned her sword to its proper sheath, seeing there was no threat besides teasing.

"You mean you didn't recognize my voice?" Leon's face turned into a fake frown. "That hurts a bit, Forte."

Frey just stayed behind the others while staring blankly at Leon, wondering what to do at a time like this. She hadn't seen him, let alone talked to him, in over a week, and that was when she broke it off with him for the last time. How was one supposed to act around a person who was her lover just days ago?

More importantly, though, why was he here anyway? Was he really just passing through and happened to see the conundrum going on? Or was he trailing her now that she could be out and about, hoping to tease her?

It was probably the latter option, she thought with a frown. It wouldn't do for everybody to see her like this, though, so she sucked up whatever was bothering her and smiled. "Good afternoon, Leon."

Everyone who knew Frey knew that she couldn't resist not saying a day greeting to whoever she met on the street. Even the tourists who walked around the town would comment on how friendly the princess there was, seemingly having so many duties but still having enough time to greet whoever crossed her path. That was just a trademark Frey thing, so if she didn't say hello to Leon, everyone would know something was wrong.

"Well, hello," he replied, his face unchanging. She remembered he was good at hiding his emotions. Well, she was going to have to be, too.

"It's early afternoon - aren't you normally in the bath?" Frey asked, noting the way the sun shone in the sky. When she left the house it was just past ten, meaning it was probably ten-thirty now, and when she made her morning treks through town, she'd always see Leon heading to the bathhouse at that time.

"My, aren't we observant today?"

"Why is it that you know Leon's bathing schedule?" Clorica asked, suddenly interested. She didn't seem too interested in hearing the answer, though, because she quickly fell back to sleep.

"Ahaha… I guess I'm just nosy," the mint-haired girl replied, laughing nervously with her hand on her neck.

Amber ran in front of Frey. "Do me next! Where am I at ten-thirty or eleven?"

A drop of sweat fell from Frey's forehead. "Well, um…"

"Don't you know? She's only observant toward men," Leon broke in, interrupting her thought process of how she was going to try and guess.

"Hey! It's not like I'm the one going around following all the members of the opposite sex every day," she countered, referring to his current position.

He frowned. "You wound me. I just happened to be wandering aimlessly until I stumbled upon this fine group of young ladies."

Frey's face scrunched up into a mixture of disgust and confusion. She wasn't sure if she was truly angry or just annoyed with him, but the next thing she said came out as icily as it sounded in her head, and she instantly regretted it.

"You're not being a man of your word."

By now half the other girls had retreated, either fearing the two when they fought or having other stuff to take care of themselves. Only Forte, Margaret and Clorica remained now, and the purple-haired girl was hardly paying attention, being asleep and all.

Leon seemed utterly defeated at that point. No part of his face showed what he was thinking, but the four girls who were left could only guess that he was trying, as usual, to come up with a response, witty or otherwise. Needless to say, he couldn't think of one, so he left without saying anything else, either too embarrassed that he was defeated or too defeated to even feel embarrassed.

Once he was out of sight, Frey sighed, not knowing why she said that.

"That was rather harsh, Frey," Forte scolded.

"Yeah," she replied softly, unable to think of what else to say. It wasn't even like Leon was bothering them – he was just being Leon! That was who he was, someone who bothered everyone, but it was funny so that's why he got away with it all the time. He wasn't harming anyone.

It seemed that she was the one with the problem and not him.

"I… should probably find him and apologize."

"That might be best," the blonde agreed.

As Frey began walking away, Forte and Margaret looked at each other with the same expression, wondering if the other knew what was wrong between the two friends. They both exchanged a glance with Clorica, who surprisingly wasn't asleep, but Margaret sighed when she realized none of them knew what was the matter.

"Should we pry?" she asked in a hushed voice. Frey wasn't too far away yet.

Forte shook her head. "I don't think we should. Not yet, anyway." She watched the young Earthmate's figure disappear into the distance. "She'll tell us when she's ready."

...

_Knock knock knock._

When there was no answer after the first set of knocks, Frey tried once more. She knew he had to be in there; there was no other place to look in town and she knew he wouldn't travel outside alone at this time of day.

_Knock knock knock._

"Who is it?"

"I-it's me, Frey."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "Go away."

Frey glared at the door but wiggled the knob anyway. Was he really that upset by her words? Well, she guessed they were pretty harsh...

The door opened without difficulty and when she entered the room she saw Leon just lying on his side, facing the wall. She huffed.

"Did it really bother you that much, what I said?"

She didn't receive an answer, instead only hearing very hushed exhales of breath. She exhaled her own.

"I know you're not sleeping, Leon; you just answered me a minute ago behind the door."

She still didn't get any answer so she decided to try a more direct approach. Frey waltzed over to his bed and shook him like she did to Doug that morning, except a little more forceful. If there was anything she knew about men at all, it was that they couldn't stay asleep if they're being shaken.

Leon was rolled onto his back and suddenly Frey lost all traces of anger, any hints of being upset thrown away as she was forced to stare into his eyes. His blue orbs pierced into her mint greens, threatening to bring back all the seemingly-lost feelings the two once shared. For the moment, it was only the two of them and nobody else in the world mattered. There was nobody around them at all, nobody to tell them how wrong this was, nobody to tell them to stop being so affectionate, and most of all, nobody to interrupt them. It was a world where only the two of them existed.

She searched his eyes for his feelings but when she didn't find or understand them she felt a pang of sadness wash across herself. Was she the only one who felt this way? Did she misunderstand their old relationship for just a way to kill time? Did he have any feelings left for her, if he ever did at all?

Was this wrong?

Frey's eyes moved heavily and frantically from his eyes to the rest of his face, from his cheeks to his lips, desperately hoping to find some answers.

"Hey... you're pretty cute when you're anxious."

She huffed, not knowing whether to be sad or angry after that. "Stop teasing me."

The Earthmate tilted her head up at the ceiling, trying to prevent stray tears from falling and also so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

But Leon wouldn't have any of it. He grabbed her chin with his hand and gradually brought her face down to meet his once more. "I'm not teasing," he told her sternly.

Frey averted her eyes but couldn't get away from his grasp on her face. "W-why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

It took her a while to form the right words. "Trying to get me to come back."

They must have stabbed at him a little bit harder than her words earlier; his hold on her chin loosened enough for her to regain control of it.

Leon instinctively wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer than they'd ever been before, even when they were in a relationship. He exhaled a breath of relief, just knowing she was there and for the moment was his and wasn't going away. He could feel her heartbeat colliding with his, creating a sort of bittersweet and monotone melody that only the two of them could sing. It felt so good, so right, to have her there in his arms.

But he knew it couldn't last. She belonged to someone else because he lost his chance.

"Hey," he said.

She sniffed and loosened her arms' grip from around his neck, glancing up at his face. His voice was so gentle, just like how she loved it, and the expression on his face could have made her heart melt if everything was right. She was almost mesmerized.

"I'm going to be a man of my word."

He got up, bringing her with him, and threw his arms around her again. "I haven't been the greatest to you, especially since last week, but I'm going to start now."

Frey hiccuped but didn't say anything, not entirely understanding what he was trying to say. She was going to question him but when her voice came out as incomprehensible squeaks he continued, saving her the trouble.

"You won't see me anymore unless it's your choice," he whispered into her hair. "If you want to make time for me, I'll always be here, but for now and possibly the rest of your life, we'll live as strangers, just mere acquaintances who live in the same town."

He allowed himself to keep her there for just a few moments more until he decided it was okay. He replaced his sadness with the signature smirk and pulled back.

"Enough of this mushy garbage. We both know neither of us is like that." He chuckled despite seeing her face crumpling into fear and remorse. "Go along and play with your boy toy, now."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes, willing what tears she had left to stay in their ducts. She wasn't supposed to be sad over something like this. She and Leon's relationship was over - they were both just playing around anyway - so what was the matter?

She laughed quietly and sheepishly. "Okay. Well, what does this make us then?"

His face changed into its non-amused expression. "I just told you. We'll be acquaintances, just like how we used to be before all this started." When he didn't receive a response, he added with another smirk, "Don't tell me you're not all right with that?"

She pushed him playfully. "That's just fine. It gives me more time to focus on more... important things," she said, guiltily biting her lip. It wasn't like this was a waste of time, but she did have to admit, her and Doug's wedding was far more important than a relationship from the past, and speaking of Doug...

Tears nearly sprang forth from her eyes again at the thought of her fiance, and she got up immediately, almost regretting coming here in the first place.

"Well... I have stuff to do, so..." She rubbed the back of her neck, walking backwards to the open doorway, now impatient and eager to leave.

He smiled genuinely, allowing himself to be different for just another second. "See you around."

After she shut the door behind her and sighed once she got to the other side, his face contorted once more back into sadness. A day of wallowing in self-pity wouldn't hurt anybody, right? He owed it to himself to be honest with his feelings, at least for once in his life. This wasn't the end of the world by any means - he simply needed some time to get back on his feet, then he'd be good as new.

Frey leaned against the door and allowed herself an exhale of relief. Everything was finally over. She didn't feel completely satisfied with the way it ended, but she concluded that she would never truly be, anyway. At least she could resume her healthy relationship with Doug and enjoy her own wedding now. And she didn't have anybody angry or upset with her anymore.

She smiled despite the lingering sadness in her heart. No matter what happened, things were sure to start looking up with her wedding just around the corner.

* * *

_~CGA_


	3. Preparations

**A/N: **I'm actually really happy I've decided to trash all my author's notes for this story, otherwise you'd all think of me as... ADD-like. To the best of my knowledge I'm not, but you never know, so...

Just like last chapter I can't really update the quality so sadly y'all are stuck with badly misplaced characters and their horrible one-liner dialogue, but oh well! This is the lighthearted part of the story so it's gotta feel like it.

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing and favoriting and all that jazz :) I really really appreciate everybody's kind words. Here's to the rest of this story~!

* * *

"Frey, you look amazing!"

Clorica was the only one who outright said it, but all the other girls in the room seemed to be saying the same thing with just their faces. Every one of them had been helping her prepare all evening, despite the wedding not taking place for another twelve hours. It was already eleven o'clock at night and Frey was honestly a little tired.

"Ahaha, thanks," the Earthmate said shyly. She hadn't been able to see herself in any mirror yet, mainly because Margaret refused to let her so the others went along with her. Only when they were completely finished would she be allowed to glance at herself. She was a little excited. Only a little, though.

"Ouch." She winced away from Margaret's hands slightly, wondering just how much longer the older female would continue her torment.

"Jeez, sit still!" the elf girl scolded. Frey couldn't see or guess anything, but it felt like Margaret was pulling her locks of light green hair into some sort of updo, though not all of it was on top because she could feel some loose strands tickling her neck every so often.

Frey sighed. "How much longer?" she asked exasperatedly. She knew they all wanted her to be ready, but still… there were twelve hours yet and it wasn't like she was going to sleep in her dress and with her hair this way. She really wanted to go to sleep already so she could be happy and see Doug…

It'd been almost a whole day without him lingering around, and while normally that wouldn't have been an issue, having lived with him for the past almost-month really made it hard to not see him all the time. It was a rather odd change of pace to be sure.

Margaret huffed. "Oh, I'm almost done, just hold on."

"Dolly, when you get married, I guarantee you'll look just as good as Frey, if not better!" Pico's voice chimed from the other side of the room.

"Hey, that's not something you say when the people you're comparing are in the same room," Dolce said, though she did blush a bit.

Clorica turned around to face the red-colored girl in question. "That reminds me. How are you feeling, Dolce?"

When Dolce didn't respond, giving her a confused stare instead, Clorica continued.

"A few weeks ago you seemed to be feeling down. Is everything better now?"

"Oh," Dolce said, not really anticipating this. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." She smiled genuinely and Clorica decided to drop it, satisfied with the response. The other girls didn't really seem to pay attention, too focused on the bride-to-be (or in Xiao Pai and Amber's case, asleep).

"I feel this needs to be said," Forte started, unperturbed when all eyes turned to her. "It may not be my place, but just know that… If Doug touches you in any way that makes you feel uncomfortable, let me know as soon as possible." She laid a hand on her sword's sheath, bringing emphasis to her next statement. "I will personally deliver justice to the pervert."

A drop of sweat fell from Frey's forehead and she could feel more building up, wondering just what else the knight would do given the chance. Margaret wiped the wetness away and began another scolding.

"Frey! Ladies don't sweat! Especially when they look this beautiful!"

"Ha… sorry. I guess I can't follow your example that well, Meg."

Red tinted the elf girl's cheeks, though Frey couldn't see it, and she stammered. "Ah… well, that's…"

"Well, Meg always smells like flowers, so none of us can really follow her example, right?"

"Dolce, you're only making it worse," Frey told her, laughing nonetheless as she imagined how Meg's face must have looked then, all embarrassed. It reminded her of her own face whenever Doug did something ridiculously adorable that she couldn't help but react to.

"Okay, okay! Frey, just one more tug and then you're done, I promise!" Margaret nearly shouted, eager to leave all of a sudden.

She was about to respond but then she felt the "one more tug" and resisted the urge to wince again in pain. The older female was definitely more forceful than before.

A few moments passed as Meg finished up with her hair, flipping a few more layers here and there, sticking more layers to each other with pins and the like. Frey could feel her scalp being abused but didn't say anything or complain, knowing it was just about over. And as soon as she told herself that…

"All right!" Meg exclaimed at long last. "Ta-da! All done!"

She spun Frey around on the stool so she could see herself in the vanity. The Earthmate thought herself to be a bit cliché, but she nearly gasped at her own appearance staring back at her.

Margaret had managed to pull most of her hair up into a twisted bun on the back of her head; when she tilted her head to different angles she could see the different braids that worked together to keep the hairdo intact. At the sides of her face, a few stray locks of her hair had somehow curled thanks to Meg's magic, following the curve of her face to her shoulders. Coupled with the color of her dress, which matched her hair color to a tee, Frey could honestly say she looked like a princess.

She laughed at herself mentally. This was the first time she could truly fit and wear her title properly and proudly, she realized, despite living in Selphia for around three years now. She had tried several times to return the status to Arthur, the rightful member of royalty in the small town, but he refused it each time, insisting that she would fit in much better than he would - and that he rather enjoyed the time off, relaxing and working in his own way.

Frey sighed happily, staring at her reflection. It was starting to sink in that in just a little under half a day she would be married to the love of her life. She watched as a huge grin spread across her face, realizing just how excited she was.

"Aww, look, those three are out like lights," Meg commented softly, gesturing towards Xiao Pai, Amber, and Clorica, all three snuggled together on Frey's bed. It was unusual to see Clorica actually lie down to nap, so she must have been tired from the day's events – the girls took Frey out to pick up her specially tailored dress, shopping for accessories to match it, and have something of a bachelorette party. Frey blushed at the memory of seeing a half-naked man that wasn't Doug, instead being an "entertainer" from the next town over. She had of course ended the party early, being just a tad uncomfortable, but the thought was appreciated, anyway.

Frey followed her gaze and giggled, wondering how they were going to get them out so she herself could get some shut-eye before morning. She already had to wake up early to complete all the preparations. Volkanon and the rest of the villagers volunteered to help but she insisted that because it was her wedding she should get to pick out everything that went everywhere. It was one of the first times in her life, that she could remember, that she'd been that bossy.

"So, how do you like it?"

The green-haired girl turned her attention back to Meg, who was staring at her with a determined expression. Frey smiled warmly.

"I love it. Thank you so much, Meg."

"Well, time to get moving, ladies. There's a long day for all of us tomorrow."

Forte's voice carried throughout the room and Frey, Margaret, and Dolce watched wordlessly as she heaved the three sleeping girls' forms on her shoulders.

"How does that even work…" Dolce voiced for the two others, wondering how three girls could fit on her two shoulders. Even though they saw it with their own eyes, they couldn't believe it.

"Forte's right, though," Margaret said. "We should get going." She offered Frey a small smile before standing up. "I'll be here to wake you up at six, okay? No dilly-dallying! Get some sleep as soon as we leave."

"Well, Lin Fa is keeping the bath open late for me, but other than that, there's nothing else I need to do tonight, so yeah, I will," Frey retorted, seemingly having a conversation with herself rather than Meg.

Dolce and Meg waved their farewells and Forte offered a nod, and soon Frey was left alone to her thoughts and herself in the castle room.

…

After stepping out of the bath, Frey thought it was a bit of a waste to undo all of Meg's hard work, but she'd back in the morning to do it all over again so she didn't let it bother her too much. Besides, it wouldn't do to have a smelly bride at a wedding. Of course, she wasn't sure if she really did stink, but it was better to be safe than sorry, especially if she was worrying this much over it.

She didn't want her newlywed husband to think she'd let herself go just because they hadn't been together for a day or two.

Frey caught herself blushing at the thought and told herself to forget everything. Just a few more hours and she'd be able to see him again and then -

She stopped her racing thoughts before they could get any raci_er_, and soon she forced herself to just go back to the room and get some sleep.

A sigh slipped past her lips as she rested her head on the pillow, contemplating what to do when she woke up in the morning. Would she even be able to have some time to herself or would she instantly be bombarded by Meg and the others? It was sweet how much they cared, but… Well, in any case, it was probably better she wasn't left alone, judging just on how tonight made her thoughts run wild.

She felt her consciousness begin to slip away after she cleared her mind, only one thought remaining.

In a few hours she would be married to the love of her life.

…

"Good moooorning, Frey!"

The Earthmate sat up groggily, not looking forward to opening the door for whoever that cheery voice belonged to. She took a quick glance at her alarm clock, which eerily read six in the morning. Of course, she was normally up at this time on a normal day anyway, but on a day like _today – _

"I'm getting married today," she said without really realizing it. She knew there was something different about the day when she opened her eyes but now that she actually knew what was going on…

Frey sprang out of her bed and raced to the door, greeting the girls. She really only expected Margaret, but hey, the more the merrier, right?

"Meg, make me pretty!"

The elf girl giggled. "I guess it's sunk in finally, huh?" She walked into the room, the other girls trailing behind her, each looking just as tired as the next, not used to being awake at the crack of dawn like this.

"Are you excited?" Forte asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

Frey just grinned and laughed goofily, feeling like a five-year-old, while Meg took the liberty to answer for her.

"Of course she is! It isn't every day that a lady gets married, you know! And what's more, she's even marrying the love of her life…" She sighed contently, already setting Frey down into the stool and beginning to mess with her long hair, ratted from the night's sleep. "It's probably like a dream come true."

Forte glanced down. "O-oh? I had no idea. Truthfully, I am unsure of how something like this would feel…"

"Ahaha! Forte, you're so inexperienced, but that's what makes you cute," Margaret said with a laugh. "I'm not sure which of you is cuter right now: Frey for being so in love or Forte for being so inexperienced at love."

"They're both adorable," Clorica said, awake for a second, a silly grin plastered on her face. The next moment she was out like a light, however.

"It is most certainly Frey who is beaming with cuteness and female pheromones today. There is no possible way I could match her on her wedding day," Forte retorted, though she did blush a bit.

Dolce, Xiao Pai, and Amber sat on the bed, watching the others with half-lidded eyes. They wondered what was going on but were too tired to bother asking or watching more closely to find out for themselves. Only Dolce remembered how she got there, so the other two were probably dragged out by Forte.

But Frey sat still on the stool, this time allowed to watch her reflection in the mirror since she already knew what her hair would look like. She was very excited, to say the least, but knew if she started talking she wouldn't be able to stop, so she kept quiet lest she annoy somebody.

Besides, mere hours from now she would be able to bother the living daylights out of everybody in town – everybody who would be attending, anyway, she told herself sadly, thoughts of the late Venti entering her mind unwillingly.

It wouldn't do to be sad on a day like today, though, she reminded herself. This was one of the only days that belonged to her, just her and Doug, and she definitely wasn't going to let that go to waste.

She felt her body start to shake in what she thought was a mixture of nervousness and excitement, and Margaret chided her for moving when she should've been sitting still so she could do her hair. She apologized half-heartedly and tried to calm down.

It proved to be rather hard.

…

"I can't believe you're taking my Frey away!" Porcoline sobbed from the other side of the room, sitting uncharacteristically in the corner and brooding.

"Heheh… I'm sorry, I think?" Doug responded, unsure of what else to say. He turned his head around in an attempt to look at Porco but soon got scolded for doing so.

"Honestly, Doug, how am I supposed to fix you up if you won't sit still?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "S-sorry, Granny Blossom."

Blossom smacked his hand away. "Sit still already! Sheesh, just because I let you dress yourself, you come out looking like this! I knew I should have kept my eye on you last night to make sure you didn't look ridiculous – which you do!"

The old woman mumbled and muttered to herself for a few more moments while Doug stood there, not knowing what to do or say except apologize some more. Truthfully, it damaged his pride a tad by being chided with all of his guy friends there. Well, Kiel and Vishnal felt like the only real friends he had in the town, minus Frey of course and maybe Clorica.

Speaking of the guys…

"Doug, you look really good! Rather dashing, if I dare say so without accusation of being associated with the opposite sex in a discerning way."

Arthur's long comment was only further elongated by Dylas. "Why can't you just say gay?" He glanced towards Doug. "And speaking of that word, it looks like you've finally proven yourself to not be, so congrats."

"Aw, Dylas, there's no reason to be jealous," Leon chimed in. "I'm sure Lo – Frey wouldn't mind letting you borrow him every once in a while." He wore his signature smirk.

Dylas only glared back, further amusing Leon.

"What were you about to call her?" Vishnal asked, normally being slow but for once actually catching on to something.

The jackal froze for a second, not anticipating that. "Call who what? You must be imagining things, silly delusional butler boy."

"Hmm? No, I'm almost positive you were about to call Frey something else before you called her by name," Kiel piped up, interested as well. "It started with an L or something, right?"

Doug eyed Leon suspiciously before the blue-haired man started again.

"Well, in either case, that doesn't matter anymore. What _does _matter is the fact that we probably shouldn't talk about Doug's sex life out in public anymore." The smirk returned to his face, confident he had gotten them off of the other subject for good.

"W-what?!" Doug asked, his face ten different shades of red.

"Doug!" Blossom scolded, both for what she just heard and for his sudden movements. "Honestly, just what kind of child have I been raising?" she muttered to herself, though Doug could hear it.

"Jeez…" he said exasperatedly. "Nobody wants to hear that anyway," he added, only low enough for himself to hear it unlike Blossom's voice.

He wasn't sure how much more tormenting he could take. Was it time for the wedding yet?

…

"And off you goooo~!"

Amber pushed Frey into the town square from her bedroom after making sure each of the girls was satisfied with her appearance, especially Frey herself. All the other girls wore their respective bridesmaid dresses, despite it being rather odd to have six bridesmaids. Frey trusted each of them with extremely important stuff, and besides, it wouldn't feel right to leave anybody out, so why not have all of them participate? Clorica and Margaret were already included in the traditional wedding ceremony, anyway; Clorica and Vishnal waited at the end to send the two newlyweds-to-be into the castle to begin the real ceremony while Margaret played her music, either on the harp or piano.

"Eh… okay," Frey agreed reluctantly. Was it really already time for this to start? She felt so nervous, she could almost feel herself sweating through her gown. "That's kinda gross," she muttered, though she did laugh a bit.

She steeled her reflexes and mind, though, telling herself there was absolutely nothing to worry about. Doug would definitely love how she looked, and there was no doubt in her mind she would be amazed by his attire as well.

Frey took a deep breath and followed the flower petals to the middle of the town square, waiting for Doug to come and meet her so they could start their walk through town. In the distance she could see the silhouettes of all her friends, helping to calm her nerves a little. Everybody here was behind her to back her up whenever she needed it, especially on a day like today. There was nothing to be nervous about.

She smiled to herself and closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind of every thought that passed through. She inhaled the crisp afternoon, ignorant to anything and everything around her. It felt so serene, just being by her lonesome self like this, if only for a few moments of peace and quiet.

"Ah!"

Frey gasped and opened her eyes, not fully realizing just who was in front of her. "A-ah what?" But as soon as she asked she could understand why he was confused – or shocked or surprised or whatever other adjective could describe the way she felt.

Doug was dressed head to toe in the traditional white wedding tuxedo, a light green handkerchief exchanged for the blue one to better match Frey tucked into the collar, every button but one done, so Frey could catch the slightest glimpse of the undershirt he was wearing.

She instantly blushed, not expecting him to look this good at all.

"Ah… I was expecting a black tuxedo, but I don't know why, since white is more traditional and it wouldn't match my dress anyway. Ahaha…" she stammered, suddenly nervous once more.

"Yeah," was all Doug said in response, causing her to think she didn't look the best, her female brain overworking itself.

"It doesn't suit me at all, does it?" Frey asked sadly, a lopsided smile on her face, trying to hide her pain. At first he seemed like he was speechless because she looked good, but apparently that wasn't the case.

"What – _no! _That's not what I'm saying at all! Believe me, I'm just an idiot who doesn't know how to say what he's thinking. Please don't take it that way."

Her heart was wildly racing, wondering if he really meant what he was saying. She knew that whenever he got embarrassed he would start stuttering and ranting like there was no tomorrow, though, which seemed to be the case here.

"Er.. uh... you, uh... um... You look..." He averted his eyes as far away from her as he could. "...Incredible. I mean, you always do, of course! But today is special and you look really _really _good and stuff." He blushed as if he had a fever, covering his face and glancing away so she wouldn't see him like this.

Frey giggled like a schoolgirl. "Thanks. You look really good yourself." She laughed. "I didn't know you could clean up this well. We look like that good-looking couple everybody's always so jealous of."

"Because we are!" Doug countered, his thumb held high.

She nodded and smiled, her nerves and fears suddenly diminished just from looking at Doug.

"Well, shall we go?" he asked, face red as he outstretched his hand towards her.

"Indeed, we shall," she answered, grinning like a fool. She took his hand and linked her arm with his, ready to face the onslaught of other grinning faces they would no doubt be facing throughout the day.

* * *

_~CGA_


	4. The Big Day

**A/N: **Heelllooo~

Not many edits to this one so that's good!

As always, thanks so much for reading! and favoriting and following and reviewing of course, you guys keep me going! otherwise I wouldn't be here wasting my days writing about fictional characters having angst with other fictional characters

* * *

**Controversy**

She didn't feel nearly as nervous as she did just a few minutes ago, thanks to Doug, and felt like she was finally ready to take on the day.

All of the bridesmaids, while not exactly living up to the name because all they did was look pretty, were dressed and ready to go. Earlier that morning was when all the decorations went up, and though the designs were all Frey's ideas and choosing, she had Volkanon, Clorica, and Vishnal to thank for helping her plaster them everywhere. Sometimes she didn't know what she would do without her favorite Selphia butlers.

There was a cool, gentle breeze whirling through her hair, blowing the loose ringlets into her face, and for a moment she was a little afraid the curls would unravel sometime soon, but she didn't worry about it a second longer. It would undoubtedly grow messier throughout the day, due to sweat and whatever else, she reminded herself hastily as the image of an angered Margaret popped into her head.

Probably the only thing that could make today better would be for Venti to show up. She'd play with, laugh at, talk to and scold her as usual, but at the end of the day she would undoubtedly voice how happy she was that her friends had finally figured out that they loved each other. Of course, things were a little rocky, especially with Doug and Venti, but everything worked out in the end.

For now though, she was just ecstatic that she was here with Doug, and they were two equally stupid and naive people ready to take on the world together, one step at a time. And this just happened to be one of the first steps in that long journey.

"So, uh... Do you know what we're supposed to do here?"

She was brought back to reality by Doug's face and faced him, wondering just what he meant with his question. Yes, she'd just admitted that they were stupid, but...

She was about to voice her concern but her expression told him enough, beating her to the punch.

"Well, I mean, what do we do? Walk around aimlessly until we meet people from town? It's a pretty big town..."

That hit her pretty hard; after all, they hadn't been told anything by Volkanon or anyone else, so they were pretty much going into everything blindly today. It felt a little exciting, just having to figure everything out, but the nerves quickly outweighed it after Doug's words.

He sensed this, though, and gripped her hand more tightly, flashing her his reassuring smile. She gulped disbelievingly.

"Sorry... Guess I shouldn't make you nervous on a day like today, huh?"

Frey's jaw dropped and an indescribable urge to strangle him encroached upon her. "You jerk!" she said, slapping his arm.

"Ahaha, but that's why you love me, right?" He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

She couldn't say her anger dissipated completely, but seeing Doug's stupidly goofy grin made her cheer up a tad. She puffed up her cheeks. "If you say so."

He laughed again, and Frey knew she couldn't possibly stay mad at him much longer.

Though, she realized that Doug was probably told what to do and everything while she was getting ready with the girls, and she was reminded of a certain someone's teasing, just like her fiance was doing now.

"All right," she decided, having enough of her thoughts for a while. Today definitely was _not _the day to dwell on such memories; it was a joyful day that she had to fill with new memories of her and Doug and their new life together. She smiled. "We should greet everybody now."

The dwarf nodded, and finally, without further ado or teasing from Doug, the two walked down the stairs to the small shopping district. Frey felt her tension ease up again once she spotted the familiar faces of Illuminata and Amber, the latter fully clothed head to toe in her lavender bridesmaid dress. Frey smiled, glad that her taste in clothes didn't upset her friends; though she saw them all earlier when they were getting ready, seeing the dresses in the sunlight really made her realize it was a solid choice._  
_

"Congrats!" Amber exclaimed. Somehow she made her way past Frey without the older (though that was debatable) female noticing, and she and Illuminata wore matching grins as they offered their congratulatory words and praise.

Frey and Doug, hand in hand, laughed shyly, not knowing what to say other than thanks. So the first stepping stone to all the citizens were Amber and Illuminata... Though they were both eccentric in their own ways, the happy couple were relieved; after all, it could've been Porco they were meeting first, and they both knew they didn't want his sentiment heavy on their minds first thing.

"You two be nice to each other now!" Illuminata piped in, monocle in her hand as she cleaned it with her shirt. "I don't want to do any infidelity investigations here."

"Ehe..." Was this what they had to look forward to? All the townspeople - their friends - teasing them about things that wouldn't happen? Well...

"We get it already, come on," Doug said, speaking for and to Frey. He eyed the detective warily before saying goodbye and making haste to the next person who would no doubt torment the two lovebirds. He supposed that meant Margaret, standing by the lone bench overlooking the lowest ravine.

Meg, just like Amber, wore the full-length lavender dress, the fabric now matching the earrings she wore just for this special occasion. Her regular leggings were nowhere in sight, and it was weird seeing her without them, but Frey thought she still looked very nice, probably challenging even herself.

"You look great, Meg!" she said, a broad smile spread across her face.

But the elf wouldn't have any of it, not even turning a fair bit red as per usual. "I don't want to hear that from you, especially not today!"

"Ah... what?"

Margaret let out a sigh. "I spent all that time last night and this morning making _you _pretty, not me! I appreciate the compliment... but don't say stuff like that. It's not even about my hard work..."

"She means you look _reeeally _good," Doug finished for her, turning his head to face Frey. He squeezed her hand. "And, w-well, I think so, too."

Frey knew her face had to match Doug's hair right about now, so she tried to hurry up the process as best she could. "All right, there's more people waiting to see us, so shouldn't we get going?"

Her fiance seemed to still be recovering from his embarrassment or something, and so was she, but she wanted to escape at least one source of it while she still could. "Doug?"

He snapped out of whatever it was and nodded. "Right. I guess it's time... to meet Granny Blossom," he said, hints of hesitancy in his voice.

"Haha, okay," Margaret said, back to her normal, chipper self, "I shouldn't have kept you guys this long, anyway. I hope you two live a long and happy life!"

"Thanks, Meg." Frey smiled. "Wish us luck with Blossom."

And there she was a few tens of meters away, standing right next to the general store where so many events had already occurred. Seeing the old woman there brought several thoughts to Frey's mind, most pertaining to wondering if it would continue to be the gathering place of memories.

For starters, it was where Doug more or less grew up, right? She wasn't entirely sure how long he had been staying in Selphia, but the way everybody talked about him made it seem like a pretty long time. She grew envious with every conversation regarding him, because while all the townspeople had already known Doug for so long she was just barely getting accustomed to him. Even now she hardly knew anything compared to the others.

Now that they were living together, would Doug still come here often? Obviously he wouldn't give up his job, but he didn't have all of his things here anymore, so was there a point in him returning? Though it was just around the block, moving couldn't have been too easy for him, and looking at Blossom's face, it was probably even harder on her. Would it be the same when she and Doug had a child and had to watch him move out? She unconsciously squeezed his hand.

"Hey, you okay?"

Doug's voice again snapped her out of reverie. She noticed that her hand was a little sweaty and she tried to claim it back, but he didn't relinquish his grip.

"A-ah, Doug, you know, we're right in front of Blossom, and you know how she gets when she sees us acting all - "

"I'm not acting, Frey," he told her. His tone was rather shocking; it was one of the more serious voices she had heard from him, but it was odd considering he next to never used it, especially around her.

"I'm worried about you. You've been spacing out ever since we started, and you're kinda breaking my hand here. Is something wrong?"

It wasn't that something was _wrong, _per se, just... She had allowed her mind to wander off way too much, and while it normally did that anyway, she could see how today it would tense him up.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm just thinking too much," she admitted, flashing a sheepish smile. "Really, you don't need to worry about me. I'll feel better once we start moving again and after the day ends."

But that just made her thoughts race as well, reminding her that there was often... well, _consummation _of marriage at the end of the wedding. She gulped and took another glance at Doug's face, wondering if he was thinking the same thing; but, as usual, his face remained pretty composed for the most part, save for his concerned gaze at her.

"I'm fine!" _I just need to stop thinking about anything and everything._

He seemed extremely unconvinced, a judgmental stare on his face.

"Honestly!" Frey turned a little red, unused to his eyes being glued to hers.

"Doug!"

She wasn't sure whether or not she should have voiced her thanks to these people snapping her out of her thoughts and getting her out of troublesome situations, but she was indeed grateful for the interruption - though, after seeing her new grandmother she didn't know if she should have been.

Blossom stood with a stern expression on her face.

"Oh boy, here it comes..." Doug trailed, knowing they were in for an earful of Granny Blossom's scolding. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see her disapproving glare.

But he had the wind knocked out of him - and Frey's hand - when he felt himself being tackled. He opened his eyes and saw Blossom hugging his torso, head on his shoulder. Instantly Doug's face heated up; Granny was _never _affectionate like this, most of the time relying on words rather than actions to convey feelings.

"H-hey... what's wrong, Granny?"

"You're already getting married, Doug!" she cried. "It's hard not to be emotional at a time like this."

He awkwardly returned the embrace, not knowing what else he could do, and smiled. "I thought you were going to scold us for too much PDA again," he said with a laugh.

Blossom pulled away and gaped at him. "Oh, just who do you think you grandmother is?"

"You're not mad?" Frey asked, butting her way into the family conversation.

"Not a chance! It is your wedding day, after all."

The two ignored her sudden change of character and just stood in silence, wondering what was next in store (maybe literally, considering their location). It was an interesting day for sure.

"So..." Doug decided to test her patience. "You don't mind if I do _this?"_

He grabbed Frey's hand and brought it up to his mouth, kissing it tenderly. She tried to protest but no words were coming out of her mouth, only flustered stutters of letters.

"Doug! At least wait a while before making my grandchildren!"

"That - that's not how it works, y'know..." he trailed, though he blushed, wondering if it might have backfired. He just wanted to have a little fun! It was hot and uncomfortable in this tuxedo, and talking to everyone was proving to take up a lot of time and energy. And they hadn't even gotten through half the town yet.

Frey just laughed in his stead.

"Oh, all right," Blossom said, giving up. "Just go easy on her tonight. Though you're both around the same size, I know you would be able to overpower her in a second." She looked at Frey now. "And Frey, you be careful now."

"Okay, okay," she agreed reluctantly, speaking for the too-flustered Doug. It seemed like they took turns being embarrassed and saving and speaking for each other like that; maybe that was just proof that this marriage was going to work? She laughed at that.

This time, she decided it was time to go. Just because they were having a heartfelt conversation now didn't mean they couldn't talk some other day. It wasn't like they were moving away to another town. Sure, they'd be away for a few days for the honeymoon... but she was Selphia's princess - well, makeshift princess - so she couldn't exactly leave the town she was in charge of.

In just a few more steps Frey realized that they had taken the wrong path. Porcoline caught their eyes, standing right in front of the restaurant, seemingly ready to pounce on his prey.

"Dooooooug, I can't believe you're taking my Frey away from me!"

"Ah... I'm, um, sorry," the dwarf of interest offered meekly. Just to be on the safe side, though, he took hold of Frey's hand once more, both hers and his equally warm and moist.

"And Freeeeey, I thought you were in love with moi!" Porcoline whined. "I feel so betrayed..."

"Erm... O-okay...I'm sorry." Her apology was probably even less sincere than Doug's. Ever since she moved in, Porco had been jokingly trying to win over Frey's heart and, while she admitted on most days it was pretty funny, on her wedding day she could do without it...

"...I'm kidding! Congratulations to the both of you."

_Well that was oddly convenient, _she thought to herself. The mint-haired girl smiled. "Thank you, Porcoline."

"Oh, really, Frey! Call me Porco, and think of my theme song every time you do!" He then proceeded to sing aforementioned song that Meg wrote for him, and Doug and Frey's foreheads suddenly grew sweaty.

The glutton cleared his throat. "Well, it's not my job to keep you two occupied all day long - that's for Volkanon! And for the two of you later, of course..." he trailed with a sleazy eyebrow wiggle. Both newlyweds averted their eyes awkwardly, doing their best to throw the thought into the back of their minds.

"All right, well thanks for the wishes but now we're late, late, for a very important date - "

"You don't need to make excuses for this guy!" Doug told her. "Let's just go!"

She nodded, though she did still feel a bit bad for Porco. "Ehe. Sorry, Porco, see you later!" She smiled at him before allowing Doug to lead her away again.

But she kind of wished the next people they were going to see weren't Dylas and Leon. The former had a problem with Doug, and the latter had a problem with herself, not to mention he and Doug tended to butt heads whenever they were together.

The two stood in front of the airship, just a short walk away from Porcoline's restaurant, chatting idly about something or other; she couldn't exactly hear at this distance. Once Doug and Frey's footsteps came within earshot though, the two men shifted their attention to them, watching them approach in anticipation. Truthfully, they seemed more ready to pounce than Porcoline did.

Dylas was dressed in his normal attire, but Leon had donned a white button-up shirt, probably in an attempt to look a bit more formal than usual. It worked to some extent, but just because he dressed up didn't mean nobody knew him as an unprofessional goof and tease, so in the end it was ineffective.

"Hey," Dylas said, starting it off.

Frey smiled. "Hey. Long time no see." And it was true: since she had been busy preparing for the wedding and he worked in the restaurant they hadn't seen each other in quite some time.

"Yeah," he agreed. "How are things?"

He was still awkward around the edges but Frey kind of liked that about him. For one, it reminded her of Doug and how similar the two were, and also why it was so funny that they fought despite all their similarities. And for another, his probable social anxiety just further proved how human he was even though he didn't look it. Plus, it was just entertaining to poke fun at him sometimes.

"Things are good, thank you," she responded. "As you can see, we're just kinda... preparing for everything."

Dylas chuckled. "I'm amazed that dwarf cleaned up so well. Are you sure you're okay with his shortness?"

"Haha, I'd rather have someone the same height as me rather than towering over me."

He took her words in stride, wondering if she was referring to him considering he was easily a foot taller than her. But he let it go, instead resorting to watching Doug and Leon converse in whatever they were.

Leon was all too aware of the audience they had acquired, so after the small talk with Doug he decided to spice it up a bit, knowing it would fluster both newlyweds. "So Doug, no more coming to me for your sex talks. After all, I can't give you advice with a clean conscience now that you're marrying our princess here."

"What?!" Doug retorted almost instantly. "Why are you so obsessed with my sex life? It's, uh," he made sure to look at Frey, "not like there's much to mention, anyway..." Even though Leon brought that up when all the guys were together getting Doug ready, suddenly it felt much worse when Frey was listening.

"It's okay," she said with a laugh. "Maybe this means I just have to be better so that you _will _have something to mention."

She wasn't going to let it bother her right now that while Doug hadn't exactly said that he'd been with someone he didn't deny it either. Not having something to mention didn't equal nothing happening. But this wasn't the time or the place to be upset about such matters, and besides, if they were talking about secrets, she wasn't innocent either. If he wanted her to know, he would tell her, right?

She looked at Doug and smiled hopefully, confident that this was the best choice she'd ever made for herself.

"Well, are you guys gonna congratulate us or do we just have to walk away?" he asked impatiently, a familiar hue coloring his cheeks.

"Congrats," said Dylas, doing his best to be blunt. "Not sure how to really put this, but... Hope you guys make it all the way. Despite what I say, I know you're both capable." He put on a snarky grin. "Be good to her, Doug, you hear me?"

"H-hey, what's that all about?" Doug asked defensively. "I'm not gonna hurt her or anything... I'd kill anyone who hurt her." He looked away in disappointment.

Frey giggled. "Dylas is just worried about his friends jumping into marriage, don't worry about it."

The two ignored Dylas's embarrassed expression as they turned their attention to Leon, and Frey remembered she hadn't even properly greeted him yet.

"So you're finally getting yourself married off to her, eh? You sure that's all right?"

Doug steeled himself. "There's no doubt in my mind. She's the one I want, and nothing will change that."

Frey blushed while Leon chuckled.

"You're not going to ask me what I mean by that?"

"Doesn't matter," he replied with a serious expression. "Whether it's you or something else entirely, I'm going to protect Frey because I love her." He turned towards her and grabbed her hand.

Frey nodded and closed her eyes. "I'll do my best, too."

"Hey, there's plenty of time for that mushy nonsense after the wedding." Leon interrupted the lovers' short conversation, but he left alone the part where Doug told him he would protect Frey from him, not fully understanding what he meant by that. "Now hurry up and get going before the others leave because you're taking too long."

"Are you sure? There's _nothing _else you wanted to say?" Frey asked sarcastically, expecting more snark from the jackal.

Leon nodded, and his face turned more serious. "Yeah." He looked her in the eye. "Congratulations."

With just that one word, Frey suddenly felt time stop. She didn't think she'd ever heard more than a handful of sincere words from his mouth that were directed towards her, except when they were together and it was about the two of them. She never expected him to say something so honest like that, especially when it included Doug - another man in the picture, and she knew how jealous he could get. Had he really changed so much in just the time they hadn't been together? Was that what happened? It wasn't like she could say she herself hadn't changed...

She blinked back tears, smiling instead. To say she didn't still harbor any feelings towards him would be a lie. However, her feelings for Doug were stronger, and one cannot be half-hearted in love, so she followed the louder voice in her head and heart this time. It hurt everyday, but the pain started to lessen gradually with each moment she instead spent with Doug. She truly thought, deep down, he was the better man for her.

"...Thanks," she whispered. She squeezed Doug's hand more tightly and began to walk away. She was just thankful that meanwhile, her fiance and Dylas had been chatting idly about something or other. It wasn't that she wanted to keep it a secret from Doug, per se... It would just take a while before she was fully comfortable with the past that she remembered to share it with him.

At the squeeze of his hand, though, Doug's attention snapped back to Frey, and the two said goodbye to Leon and Dylas, retreating to the other side of Airship Way to greet the eager Xiao Pai and Lin Fa.

"Congratulations!" the younger female announced, signature wink adorning her face. It seemed her bridesmaid dress had become a little worn already, her clumsiness to thank, but she still looked cute in it and Frey smiled.

"Congrats!" Lin Fa exclaimed directly afterwards. "I wish you two a lot of happiness!"

The two gentlemen left behind exchanged similar glances, those of heartbreak. Dylas was surprised to see Leon look like that, but the jackal didn't show any signs of shock himself; after all, he believed it was obvious to everyone in town - besides the girl in question, of course - had figured out who Dylas was fond of.

Leon sighed exasperatedly, breaking the uncomfortably awkward silence between the two infatuated men. "Looks like the best man won, eh?"

Dylas chuckled. "Yeah."

A few moments passed just like that, them both watching as the two newlyweds greeted and were congratulated by many others in the town. The wind picked up suddenly, causing Frey's hair to whip around her face; she fixed it but the breeze didn't let up so it was obvious she was getting frustrated. Doug laughed at her and helped keep her hair back, his hands grabbing every loose strand gently, trying his best to put it back under the big clip which kept the rest of her hair intact.

However, all he really managed to do was mess it up even more. "Sorry, sorry. I was only trying to help, I swear," he told her, though he laughed, both out of guilt and admiration. She still looked beautiful even with a bedhead-like hairdo.

Frey pouted but went along with it, anyway. Maybe this was Venti's way of saying her own tacky congratulations to her on her wedding day, being the god of wind and all. Ideally, she would've loved to have her best friend at her wedding, but the way things were, it just hadn't worked out, so she would take whatever she could get, even if it was only her imagination. She just hoped she was proud of her, wherever she was.

"He better keep her that happy," Dylas muttered, but Leon still heard it. The horse man walked away shortly after that, not being one for sappy or mushy stuff, especially when it involved the woman he loved and a man that wasn't him. He'd lost his chance, sure, and he accepted that Doug deserved her more, but that didn't mean he wanted to see them demonstrate that.

Leon chuckled. "Sore loser."

...

The ceremony was relatively short compared to the day of traveling around town, talking with everybody. She supposed that was what it was supposed to be like, though, so that the actual process seemed like a breeze.

Volkanon had proven to be quite the asset, too, despite his emotional outbursts; Frey found she could sympathize with him on most things concerning herself.

She and Doug were married inside the center room of the castle per her request, in hopes that Venti would be able to watch over them. Though, the earlier incident with the wind really led her to believe she was already there and that in itself made her extremely happy, lifting up her spirits with layers upon layers of happiness.

But what was happening right now was definitely not happiness, even though it probably should have been.

She was in her favorite spot, Keeno Lake, right on the water and listening to the sounds of the night birds and crickets. They'd managed to find a salvageable cabin to stay in for the next night or two and as soon as they entered through the door they were on each other.

Despite not remembering much of anything from before she came to Selphia, Frey could swear she remembered someone telling her that it would hurt, playing around like this for the first time. Of course she was happy that she would be able to experience it for the first time with Doug - at least, it was certainly _feeling _like it was the first time - but the white hot intensity of the pain proved to be a formidable foe.

It was a new feeling, like an intrusion to her person that she knew would take some getting used to, but with kisses being placed all over her neck and chest it made everything a little more tolerable.

Every thrust was like a fresh new scar, threatening to embed itself forever, yet she didn't want to stop. It certainly didn't feel good yet, and even Doug was beginning to worry, wondering if they should continue, but she told him she was okay, don't stop.

Somewhere deep down, underneath all the pain and sweat and suffering, she wanted to keep going, to get even closer to Doug, her husband, the man she truly loved. Though it hurt like a wound from the battlefield that wouldn't heal, she couldn't bring herself to stop, and reminded Doug to keep going when he began to hesitate after hearing her mouth's other loud protests.

The pain broke through all of her resistances like a knife and for a moment Frey thought she would surely pass out, dizzying and burning sensations enveloping every single part of her, but she pushed through it, telling herself the pleasure would come in soon; it _had_ to in order for this sex-feels-good theory from every person to be even remotely plausible.

And then it started.

"A-ah, wait just a second," she pleaded, allowing herself some time to adjust to the very weird feeling now accommodating her lady parts. She cried out in pain and Doug was instantly above her forehead, placing sweet kisses all along it.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he kept saying each time his lips made contact with her skin.

Frey laughed, only further confusing him. "Stop apologizing already." Her voice was a little weak but still sounded like the woman he loved so he smiled, firmly believing she was all right.

Suddenly the very theory she questioned just a minute ago proved itself over and over again, leaving her to wonder just why they waited so long to do this together.

Each movement that brought her closer and closer to the edge of her sanity reminded Frey that she certainly had made the right choice. She followed her heart and married Doug, who could go through with his torment and teasing (not that it mattered much at this point), was able to tell her he truthfully loved her, and would be a family man for sure. Despite it being only a few hours into their marriage, she absolutely couldn't wait to start a family with him... especially if it meant this was the method of doing it.

* * *

_~CGA_


	5. News?

**A/N: **Ahh, good ol' Controversy. Making stomachs churn with its bad writing and then uplifting souls because of incredibly, disgustingly cute moments.

I think this is the most fluff I have ever written in any story ever, so... enjoy! And as of now, all the published chapters have been updated, so yaaaay! From here on out all new chapters will be untouched! Awesooome~

As always, I want to thank each and every one of you for turning this story into one of my most viewed fics ever, so thank you! You guys are my muses~

* * *

"Good mooooorning," Frey called out to her husband, deciding it was a good time for them to be awake. She ruffled his hair like she did every morning and waited for him to wake up. She'd learned a while back that he didn't ever hear her alarm so she had to be just that for him.

She climbed onto his back, straddling him, and began to rub circles everywhere. "Come _oooon, _Douggie, it's your personal alarm clock telling you to – " she whispered into his ear – "wake your lazy butt up."

He groaned, half-awake, and tried to flip himself over but with Frey on top of him and only a quarter of his regular strength, it proved to be quite hard. Since a few weeks ago when she first started messing with his hair, he got used to it and didn't mind it as much as before, so now it only bothered him when people other than Frey messed with it. But he'd never admit that.

Frey laughed and got up, returning to her position just right beside him, waiting for the lazy man to wake up. She didn't really feel like taking the easy way out this morning by making him breakfast. It was the weekend finally, and just because she still had farm work to do didn't mean she wanted to do everyday stuff. She loved cooking, just...not today.

But when she heard him start snoring again she sighed, and the thought of breakfast enticed her more and more. She leaned closer to him and held his nose, mentally counting down.

Doug tried to breathe in again but quickly realized his nasal passage had become clogged; in a fit of panic he woke up, almost smacking foreheads with his wife in the process. And just like that he knew all too well what happened to make him wake up like that.

"Jeez," he whined, the grogginess in his morning voice brought to his attention. He rubbed at his eyes and frowned, glancing at Frey. "Why do you have to do that?"

She pouted, puffing her cheeks, but admitted to herself she expected this. "Well, when you won't wake up... And I don't want to make breakfast..."

"Yeah, yeah," he told her, giving up already. There was no point arguing with her, anyway, as after they got married he immediately learned she didn't go down without a fight, which she normally won. He yawned. "What time is it?"

"It's almost seven. I guess we both kind of overslept." She smiled sheepishly.

"_Uuuugh_."

He sank back down to the pillow, wanting to rest a bit more even though he knew it was futile. Frey was absolutely ruthless in the mornings, never allowing him to sleep later than her. Though, today was already quite the special case so he should have been grateful, but still, sleep sounded so good...

Frey huffed, lying down next to him. She crept up to his chest and made herself comfortable. "Well, after last night, I guess... I don't really mind if we just laze around for a while longer."

Doug knew exactly what she was referring to but was too tired to remember it vividly enough to make him blush, so he grinned instead. After realizing just what she said, about them staying in bed for some extra time, he wrapped his arms around her and exhaled, basking in the glory that such a beautiful girl truly belonged only to him.

"Hey!" he suddenly said, realization dawning on him from just a few minutes ago. His eyes shot open to stare down at Frey while a frown made its way to his face. "Don't call me Douggie!"

"Hahaha." Frey pretty much ignored him, returning to her position just under his neck. She entangled her hand with his, playing with his fingers. "Stop brooding - you like it."

Doug knew if he could see her face right now she would be sticking her tongue out at him. She was such a tease, so mean, but he guessed that was just one of the many reasons why he loved her.

Still, he couldn't stop the tint of red from plaguing his cheeks, remembering the name as his fingers were tormented by hers. "No, I don't."

...

The two were all too aware that they had an audience in the small restaurant, but that only further provoked Frey's unusual behavior. There was spilled food everywhere, of course, but not even Margaret was upset about that, it seemed. She was too busy staring at the lovebirds' attempted affair.

"Come on, Douggie! Say ah!"

"Mm... mm," was his same reply for nearly a half hour as he tried to evade his mischievous wife's prodding. It was already embarrassing enough that they had to go out for breakfast when everybody else was there (as they were still in more casual than everyday clothes), but now she had to go and do this... He knew and felt he had bits of food all around his mouth, be it toast or pieces of egg or strawberry jam, but for some reason he felt more empowered avoiding the food than taking it like a man.

All of the tourists who previously inhabited the restaurant were thankfully gone, but of course the regular oddballs of townspeople stuck around to watch them in action. Forte, Clorica, Dylas, Leon, and Vishnal all laid eyes on the couple, awkwardly staring for the past half hour as Frey tried - and failed - to feed her husband his breakfast.

The food was beginning to grow cold and Porcoline threatened to eat it, but Meg had stopped him every time, eager to see where it led. Meanwhile, Doug was stuck, wrapped around Frey's finger and practically chained and tied up, and even he himself knew that if there weren't so many people here he would gladly eat from her hand like putty.

But there was no way he was letting Dylas see that side of him. When he was still dating Frey he made sure they only went to the restaurant when Dylas wasn't working, or else he never would have heard the end of it. He only hoped that putting up with this charade didn't make him the laughingstock of the town, especially when Frey started using her personal nickname.

"You're no fun..." Frey whined, beginning to lose interest - and not a moment too soon, as Doug thought. She lowered the fork away from his mouth and put it back in its rightful place on his plate. She smiled in the stead of her crazy-cute-manipulative face, causing him to shudder a bit.

"I'll make you a deal, Frey," he began lowly, as he could still feel the peering eyes of his friends. "I'll let you call me whatever you want at home, but when we're out in public, do _not _call me Douggie." He would do anything to keep at least a bit of his pride, including beg her a thousand times back at the castle room.

Frey laughed, the melodic sound bringing a warm hue to his face. She was plotting someth -

"All right, deal. Buuuuuut..." She reached for the fork again, stabbing a piece of french toast covered with the sticky jam. "Let me give you this first."

"A-ah, no, not when there's so many people h - "

" - Say ahh," she coaxed, interrupting nearly any chance he had at negotiation.

He sighed. One embarrassing moment to save a thousand more? Was it worth it...? The horrible nickname she loved so much clicked himself into reality and he decided to screw his pride for just this one minute. He glanced over at the others, wide eyes laced with excitement, before returning to his wife and opening his mouth.

"_Ahhmm_."

Doug chewed slowly in anticipation, feeling the heat spread across his face. "Jeez, why do you like this stuff..."

"Ahaha!" Frey burst out laughing - her actual laughter, not the kind that made Doug uneasy. The others joined her not even a second later, all disbelieving he really did that. Even Porco got a kick out of it.

"Frey just has you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she, Doug?" Clorica asked ecstatically, a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Looks like she's got you tamed," Dylas remarked in a teasing matter.

"...Frey, you are a true warrior," Forte said, blushing as well, unused to this kind of scenario. She was glad Kiel wasn't here.

"Princess, you're amazing!" butler Vishnal exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"Mushy lovebirds," was Leon's response, though barely anybody could hear it.

Doug couldn't face any of them, instead relying on the wall to act as the point of interest to keep him distracted.

And soon, after Porcoline joined the conversation with his usual teasing flurry of words, Frey became embarrassed, as well. She didn't know what got into her, acting like that. Even now that they were married, the few dates they went on were nothing like this - they were a conservative couple, and everybody around knew that. Was that why everyone was so excited to see this...?

"Pfft," she sputtered, not knowing why. "This is funny."

Doug's eyes met hers, a serious look in his. "What? No, it's not! Do you have any idea what you put me through?!"

She just laughed again, the humor in the situation just not letting up at all. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Haha. I'll make it up to you tonight, okay?" She grabbed his hand and rubbed reassuring circles on it, hoping that would make up for at least a little bit of her oddity so far today.

He raised an eyebrow as she continued laughing, offering an awkward half-smile in return. How was she so adorable when she was making fun of him? "All ri - "

"Hey, you guys can take that lovey-dovey stuff back to your house," Dylas piped in, a tight grimace on his face. Doug coughed into his hand, relinquishing his grip on hers, and returned to the wall for solace.

"...Should we run?" Frey whispered to him. When he looked at her he could tell she was serious, too.

"Oh, so you've finally realized the damage you've caused?"

She slapped at his hand playfully. "Yes, yes, all right already." She bit the inside of her cheek. "Want to leave on three? We already paid for the meal up front."

He didn't even really have to think about it. If they could get themselves out of the embarrassment, at least for a little bit, he had no objections. "Sure."

"One - "

"Two - "

"Three!"

They both stood up from their chairs with invisible speed and darted out the door, not even bothering to say goodbye to the friends they left inside, who were all confused and now a little bummed out that their source of entertainment for the last hour was gone.

"W-well, I suppose I have some sword training to catch up on," Forte declared awkwardly, just as equally disappointed as the others around her. She desperately hoped nobody knew, but she was a sucker for cutesy stuff like that - candy, a nice love rendezvous, stuffed animals... Truthfully she just wanted to go home and snuggle up to her stuffed Wooly (she kept it under her bed so Kiel wouldn't find it), but she did have some training to do.

The others dispersed, saddened by the loss of excitement as well, and made their own excuses for leaving, and soon it was just Meg and Porcoline alone in the kitchen.

"Hey, Porco," Meg started, sparing no time grabbing the broom and sweeping underneath the now unoccupied table. "Frey was acting pretty strange; you don't think...?"

Porcoline's eyes widened as he grabbed a washcloth, fervently wiping circles over the counter. "N-no! There's no way Frey would do that to me. I have faith!"

The elf rolled her eyes but smiled, knowing Porco understood just as well as she did. She'd seen it happen several times in her life, already, so she had no doubt.

But, of course, she wouldn't mention anything to anybody before discovering the truth herself.

...

Doug and Frey wound up in the town square after their hasty escape, both panting and sweating, hand in hand. When they looked at each other they couldn't stop laughing so they made sure to avert their eyes as soon as they met. They needed all the breath they could save for running if the need popped up again.

"Ha... ha..."

Frey sat down on the ground, letting go of Doug's hand in the process and bringing hers up to her chest to feel her beating heart. "Wow," she exclaimed breathlessly, needing to take a few extra sips of air before continuing. "I haven't been... out of breath like this... in a long time. It feels really weird."

He laughed in agreement, hands on his knees and still panting. "I guess so... yeah."

"Well, I understand why you're tired," she said, feeling a bit better after sitting for a few. "You never do anything but stand in that store all day." She giggled teasingly. "You may be a little bit out of shape."

"H-hey!" he countered, bright red. So what if she was right? She didn't need to say it like that... "Well, whatever, I guess."

"It doesn't explain why I'm so tired, though," Frey continued, looking off into the distance, lost in confusion. "And come to think of it, haven't I been acting weird lately? Like... these past few days, I haven't felt like myself at all, really. My thoughts keep contradicting themselves and I don't feel close to anyone, and it always feels like I'm hungry but I never want to cook anything anymore."

She flinched a bit when he felt her sit down next to him, arm around her shoulder as he pulled her into him. "It could just be that you're feeling weird after marriage, right?" he tried, smiling though she couldn't see him.

Smiling herself, she leaned into him and took in his scent, the combined smells of her laundry soap and his cologne invigorating her senses. She felt like she was falling in love with him all over again.

"Or it might be all the sex we've been having," he offered instead, nothing in his voice causing her to believe he was joking.

"Ga-ah..."

She blushed furiously, burying her face in his chest, desperately trying to headbutt him at the same time. "D-don't say stuff like that when we're out here in public... Idiot."

Doug laughed nervously while trying to avoid her abrasive head smashing into his torso. "Hey, now, calm down before you give me heartburn."

She shook her head, refusing to laugh but bringing up her head to be at eye level with him. "That was a really bad joke."

"Haha, isn't that what you married me for?"

Frey pressed her head deeper into his chest and wrapped her arms around him, tightly embracing his body. Doug rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand awkwardly.

"H-hey, uh, didn't you just say you didn't like doing this stuff in pub - "

"Honestly, every time you do and say something sweet like that, you have to go ahead and ruin it with your stupid pervert humor," she said, voice a bit muffled by his clothes. He could still hear her clearly, though. "Then you ruin _that _by doing something good again... I hate that part of you."

"Ahaha... You hate that part of me? ...Sorry?"

"Mm," she groaned. "No." She turned her head to the side, hot from both being buried in him and her face's redness. "I don't hate it, I love it. But I'd love to hate it!" she whined, punching him softly.

"Well, I'm sorry," he apologized again, this time a bit more honestly. "How can I make it up to you?" He brought her closer, one hand on the top of her head ruffling her hair, the other resting on her back, keeping her near.

"My, aren't we getting bold!"

"Ack!"

The two pulled away from each other instantly, knowing exactly who the voice belonged to. It wasn't somebody who would tease them relentlessly, but it was best to stay away from everybody regardless, right?

Well, they really should have thought about that before they started being affectionate in the middle of the town square.

"Nancy!" Frey exclaimed, a little surprised to see the older woman in the square at this time. Normally she would be in the clinic helping out Jones. "Ahaha... Sorry for being in your way."

Doug took her hand and pulled her up with him so they stood side by side, though he looked away, embarrassed.

Nancy covered her mouth as she giggled. "Nonsense! Do you know how much scolding Jones and I got when we were your age? Honestly, it's nice to have another married couple in the town to spread the love!"

That didn't make either of them feel better, and they both shared some sweat drops. It could have been worse, but...

"Should we start running now?" Doug whispered to her.

She nodded. "Don't even start counting; just start running."

"Oh? What's going - "

"Run!" Frey shouted, grabbing Doug's hand again and running all over creation with him. She felt like a little kid running from her parents and other authority figures. She was honestly having the time of her life just neglecting her chores and field duties to be with her husband all day.

They made it all the way to the lake without stopping, but then Frey realized she had to give up. She crouched down to the ground and clutched her abdomen.

"Ow..."

"H-hey, Frey!"

Doug ran over to her a beat faster than his heart was pounding. He was tired and panting breathlessly but not anywhere near what she was doing. "What's wrong?"

She shrugged off the hand on her shoulder, honestly believing it weighed ten pounds at the moment. "Ha... I don't know." She tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace. "My... my stomach, my gut... everything just hurts all of a sudden."

"Can you walk? We just passed Nancy - we could meet up with her again and have her take you into the clinic." He instantly regretted the decision to make a beeline for it again, no matter how much fun it was. If it put her in this much pain there had to be something really wrong, and the added stress of running just triggered it. Was that why she was tired before, after they came out of the restaurant?

"Ah... ow. It feels like somebody's pounding my insides with a hammer." She coughed to the side. "I can still walk, I promise."

To demonstrate her point she stood up quickly, a bit wobbly but fine for the most part. She steadied herself with Doug's shoulder and smiled, proving everything was all right.

But Doug wasn't convinced in the slightest. He scooped her up by her legs and held her like he did after their wedding, making sure she held on around his neck.

She blushed a little. "Doug... I told you, I'm f - "

"Well, I don't care what you say," he retorted, looking her right in the eyes. "_I _say you're not fine, and we're going to the clinic. And I know how much you like to win these arguments, but in this situation there's nothing you can do to defy me, right?"

Before she could even muster up a reply he started walking, having to shift her in his arms occasionally, being just a little bit of a weakling. Frey smiled, though, knowing that he didn't say any of that smugly - he was truly worried about her. It made her happy, to say the least, but unfortunately she couldn't really revel in it because of the pain in her lower half.

"Doug... What's wrong with me?" she begged to know, tears starting to form in her eyes. She clung tighter to her husband, not even wanting to argue about this matter anyway, instead determined to find out what was the matter.

He awkwardly trekked through the leftmost part of town, hoping to run into Nancy before just barging into the clinic. Not too long after spotting the building did he see Nancy as well.

"Ah! Nancy!" he called out, making his way over there with a bit more haste. At first he didn't want to run out of strength or drop her so he kept a steady pace, but now even if (gods forbid) he did make such a mistake, at least they were close enough to the clinic and Nancy would be able to take over.

The woman turned her head at the call, surprised to see the two again. "Oh, I was wondering where you guys went. What's the matter? Are you guys playing another game?"

He colored slightly, but otherwise ignored her insistence that they were just messing around. "No," he said, back to normal in an instant. "There's something wrong with Frey."

Nancy's face turned grim. "What? Well, let's get her into the clinic."

Doug nodded and followed her into the small building, making sure Frey didn't knock the door or anything with her feet.

"Hey..." she managed weakly. She stared up at him, her beautiful emerald eyes meeting his.

He smiled. "Hey." He glanced up quickly before looking back down at her. "Nancy and Jones are just going to run a few tests, okay? But you'll be fine, I promise."

"Mm... You promise?"

"Promise." He laughed, though his voice remained sweet. "Have I ever lied to you?"

"Not that I know of," she said, somewhat conceding defeat.

"Well, I haven't. Not about anything important, anyway," he corrected himself sheepishly.

She frowned but let it slide, knowing that her health was more important than some white lies he might have told her at some point or another. "Doug?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"Ah - I, uh..." His face turned beet red now and he was oh-so-thankful that Nancy was farther ahead in the room than they were, otherwise that would have easily become embarrassing moment number three of the day. He gulped.

"I love you too. And I'll always be here for you, all right? Now quit worrying and getting me embarrassed and stuff... You're gonna be fine." He planted a quick soft kiss on her forehead, causing her to giggle.

"Thanks."

"All right, lovebirds! I'm ready for you whenever!" came Nancy's shout from behind the curtain, signaling that she heard everything they just said.

"Jeez... is there any way to get any privacy in this town?"

...

"Am I okay, Dr. Jones?" Frey asked hopefully, still clad in her normal clothes, though they were a bit bloody and torn now due to the emergency of the situation. As soon as Jones came down the stairs as per Nancy's request, he had to take some blood tests and other stuff.

He tapped his pencil on the clipboard, making sure he didn't overlook anything that could prove to be dangerous in the future. "Well, your blood levels and pressure are all normal, so there's no need for concern - "

"Then what's wrong with her?" Doug butted in, not wanting to beat around any bush anytime.

Jones chuckled. "Impatient as ever, huh, Doug?"

The dwarf frowned but otherwise made no reply.

Jones folded his arms and leaned back against an odds-and-ends table, relaxing a bit and enjoying every moment of prolonging it. "So, Frey, remind me again how long you two have been married."

Frey narrowed her eyes. "Why does that matter... Um, about two months."

"I see, I see..." He put a hand to his chin, as if deep in thought, and then called for his wife from the other side of the room. After she approached he smiled once more. "Did you want to break the news to them or do you want me to?"

Nancy squealed in delight. "Oh, can I? I thought this was your moment."

He laughed. "Go ahead. I know how much you want to."

"Okay! Well... Doug, Frey." She looked at each of them as she called their name. "You dogs, you! In just two months you've done what Jones and I have failed to do ever since we got married!"

"Ah... Nancy, you didn't have to go _that _far," Jones told her, but the three others in the room pretty much ignored him.

The two people it concerned, though, were as confused as ever.

"What exactly is going on?" Doug asked, right after Frey asked, "What's my diagnosis?"

Nancy giggled, trying so hard not to burst from excitement. "Your diagnosis? _You're pregnant!_"

"..."

"..."

"What?"

* * *

_~CGA_


End file.
